The Marauders: The Start of It All
by TigrezzWrites
Summary: The Marauders' first and second year. Hope you like it! (I'm rubbish at summaries so I'm not even going to try. :P Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to my Queen, J.K. Rowling.
1. Chapter One: Train Rides Just Need Candy

James Potter let out a groan as he was kissed repeatedly by his tearful mum, who seemed to believe that if she smothered his face with slobber, he might not leave her.

After what seemed like an hour, he finally wiggled free of his mother's vice-like grip, cheeks red with mortification. "Mum, we're in public!" Indeed they were. Hundreds of people along with them were at the gobsmackingly big King's Cross Station, waiting to get on a train.

"Sorry, dear." She didn't seem sorry. "I just can't believe you're leaving for Hogwarts already. My little boy all grown up…". She lowered her voice at the word Hogwarts, looking around nervously.

James' ears were already red as he turned to his dad, hoping not to be embarrassed further. Luckily, his dad wasn't one for big sobbing scenes, and just pulled him into a hug.

"I'm going to miss you, sport." He gave James a clap on the back, letting go of him, and his green eyes shined as he said, "Make sure to give old Minnie a good time," referring to the old Gryffindor Head of House.

James steered his cart, full to the brim with his trunk, a cage containing his owl Pyra, and a bag, to face the cracking stone wall between gates 9 and 10, promising, "I will, Dad!"

"Don't cause much trouble," his mum said sternly, before softening her expression and adding, "I'll miss you!"

"Yes Mum, you too, Mum," said James absently, his mind already filled with daydreams of the awesome things he would do at Hogwarts, the teachers he'd prank, the classes he'd skip, the Quidditch games he'd win...

"See you," she said, wrapping an arm around his dad's lanky body as a tear fell down her porcelain face.

James pretended not to see it, his face now tomato red, and got his cart ready. "Cheers then!" With that, he pushed his cart forward with all of his strength, running for the wall as he squeezed his eyes shut, body tense, ready for a collision that never came.

Instead, he emerged on the other side to find a huge red train not even ten feet away from him.

He skidded to a stop, readjusted his glasses, and blinked. As he looked around, he realized there was a train, but there was also a skinny but reasonably long brick platform where about a hundred witches and wizards had crowded, each trying to push their way through to the train.

James soon joined them, dragging his cart alongside the train as he looked through the dirt-stained windows at the compartments, checking if he could wind up some people by making himself at home in their compartment, or if it was too full. As he saw that all of them so far were full, he began to wonder if he could sit on somebody's lap, annoying them even more. He laughed at that thought, before finally finding a spare compartment. There was conveniently an entrance to the train right beside that compartment, and he whirled his cart around to face it.

There was an indignant squeak and a thud, and James whipped his head backward to find his owl on the ground, squirming around in her cage.

"Oh! Bugger!" He picked the cage up quickly, and put her back on her original position, balancing on the top of his trunk. "Sorry, Pyra," he said ruefully. She didn't seem to accept his apology - if an owl could glare, that was what she would be doing.

He patted her cage in an attempt to calm her down, and focused his attention on trying to lift his stuff off the cart and up onto the train.

About five attempts later, he realized that his trunk wasn't budging, and wasn't going to. He cursed his skinny arms, and glared at the offending object as if that was going to make it grow arms and carry itself up.

While he was glaring at it, a black-haired boy approached him. "Could you use some help?" The boy smirked a little.

James immediately stopped glaring at an inanimate object, and imitated his smirk. "Obviously." He grinned. "This thing weighs like fifteen stone 5."

The black-haired boy returned his grin, and took a side. James took another side. "On the count of three," he said. The boy nodded, and they started counting,

"One… two… three!"

They promptly pulled upwards with all their strength, which, admittedly, wasn't very much.

The trunk lifted about six inches, then dropped back onto the cart with a resounding thunk. The boy sighed. "Darn, this thing is fat!"

"HEY!" James crossed his arms and mock-glared. "My trunk has been working out lately, thank you very much!"

The boy smirked again. "Sure, and you have definitely been too," he quipped sarcastically, eyes resting on James' bony arms. He gripped the dusty trunk again. "Ready?"

"One… two… three!"

This time, with a lot of force, effort, and cursing on the black-haired boy's part (James quickly learned he had a very dirty mouth), they finally heaved it on. Panting and sweating, James lifted his much lighter bag on, and finally, hoisted his owl's cage onto his shoulder.

"Need help with yours?" James tried to make a casual lean work as he checked the time. 10:58. Two minutes until leave.

The boy exhibited a perfect casual lean as he said, "Nah, I already got mine on. It's light as a feather; my -". He paused, and for the first time in the five minutes James had known him, he looked a little uncomfortable. He straightened up. "Somebody put a spell on it."

"Who?"

"Somebody," the boy snapped, and James decided not to push it.

"My name's James Potter, what's yours?" He changed the subject, straightening up too.

The boy's expression fell and his grey eyes turned - sad? This boy was a mystery. "Sirius," he said quietly, his eyes downcast.

James waited, narrowing his eyes a bit.

The boy - Sirius - made no move of saying anything else, and they were silent, until James broke the silence out of curiosity. "What's your last name?" he asked bluntly.

Sirius snapped his eyes up, looking directly at James. "Black, okay?" he stated loudly, turning some heads. "I'm your worst freaking enemy, so you can just clear off!" He stomped off to the compartment James had wanted at first. The latter heard a very loud thud as Sirius slammed the door.

"Hey-wait-"

James grabbed his bag, and, dragging his trunk, ran after him as fast as he could while carrying an owl on his shoulder, a bag on his arm, and lugging a 15 stone 5 trunk. He threw open the door. "I don't give a darn!"

A red-haired, red-eyed girl who had formerly had the compartment all to herself wiped her eyes and glared at them. Sirius ignored her and stared at James, narrowing his eyes.

"Obviously you're a bit grumpy, but some candy could probably fix that," the latter quipped, sitting down opposite the sleek-haired boy and crossing his legs.

Sirius all-out grinned at that, his mood changing faster than the train was (it had started moving without them noticing). "Well, if you insist on sitting with me, I would like some candy, and also, we'll need to do something about -" he waved his hand around James' face, causing him to blink "- all… that."

A mock-insult was on the tip of his tongue, but before James could say anything smart, a sandy-haired boy with blatant scars running across his face opened the door. "Do you mind if Peter and I sit here?" he asked hesitantly. "Everywhere else is full."

James spotted a tuft of blonde hair poking out behind the scarred boy's face, peered behind him and saw another boy, a little bit on the chubby side, a bag swung around his shoulder.

"Nah, you're good."

"Yeah," Sirius added, grinning at them, "we have tons of space." The other girl sitting in the compartment glared at them again, but didn't say anything.

The sandy-haired boy half-smiled, then sat down next to James, and the other boy - Peter - followed his lead, clinging onto his hand as if it were life itself.

James briefly wondered if they were dating.

Sirius appeared to be thinking the same thing as he looked between the two and smirked, but didn't mention it. "So we have Peter, and…"

"Remus Lupin," the sandy-haired boy said quickly. He tensed up, as if waiting for something to happen.

Sirius raised his eyebrows, looking like he was about to say something, but right as he started to open his mouth, an excited squeal came from Peter, who was bouncing up and down on his seat, pointing out the door.

"The candy trolley!"

They all snapped their heads around to look, and the girl on the other side of the compartment glanced out, seemingly uninterested. Indeed there was a candy trolley, full to the brim with brightly coloured sweets of every shape and kind.

The gold-rimmed door opened as the chubby woman who pushed the candy trolley peeked inside. "Anything from the -"

She was knocked over as a squealing Peter ran out the door, put his entire bag in the cart, galleons spilling out, and grabbed all the candy he could hold. He sat down contentedly as the trolley lady got up, brushed herself off with as much dignity as she could muster after being knocked down by a screeching eleven-year-old, and glared.

James ducked his head awkwardly, and fished in his pockets for money. He was able to find a Galleon and two Sickles, and placed them in the fuming lady's hand. "Say, how much Chocolate Frogs will this buy?"

"Seventeen," she snapped. "And it's how _many_ will this buy."

Not in the mood to be grammar-corrected, James silently took eighteen chocolate frogs and returned to his seat, smirking.

The trolley lady tried to regain her composure, and straightened up. "Is that all?" She clenched her teeth at the last word. "Dears?"

Remus nodded respectfully. "Yes, that would be all, Miss…"

"I forgot it," the lady said sadly. "All these years on the Hogwarts Express and nobody has given a darn about me and asked for my name." She wiped tears out of her eyes, and smiled at Remus. "Except for you, dear." She patted him on the head affectionately. "You really are a darling."

Remus' cheeks went red. "Thank you," he muttered as she left.

James sniggered and ripped open a Chocolate Frog, letting the card fall onto the wrapper. He stuffed it in his mouth, as another boy who looked like he needed shampoo came in and sat down next to the redhead.

Sirius took no notice of that and picked up the bronze-rimmed card immediately. His mouth fell open as he read the name. "Devlin Whitehorn?! He's the bloke that made the Nimbus company!"

James' eyes bulged, and he spit the remains of the Frog on Remus. "Gimme that!" He snatched it away and looked at it in wonder as Remus brushed himself off daintily. "Devlin Whitehorn (1945-present) is most well known for founding the internationally famous Nimbus racing broom company. He likes to compete in Muggle wrestling - what is that? - in his spare time."

Sirius grabbed it back. "I want it!"

James wrestled it out of his hands. "I paid for it!"

"I still want it!"

"It's mine!"

"Give me it! It can be my birthday present!"

"Your birthday's today?"

"No, it's in November, but still.."

This went on for a bit until they were interrupted by the shampoo-needing boy, who said to the girl he was sitting next to, "You'd better be in Slytherin."

James promptly dropped the card. " _Slytherin_?"

The boy averted his eyes from the girl, and turned to glare at James, who ignored that, and continued, picking Devlin Whitehorn up, as the card had fallen on the ground. "Who'd want to be in _Slytherin_? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" he asked Sirius.

He looked uncomfortable. "My whole family have been in Slytherin."

"Blimey, and I thought you seemed all right!"

Sirius grinned widely. "Maybe I'll break the tradition. Where are you heading, if you've got the choice?"

James lifted an invisible sword, swinging it around. "Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart!" He said this in a deep announcer voice, then returned to his normal voice. "Like my dad."

The greasy-haired boy coughed, barely hiding a snigger. James immediately whipped around, narrowing his eyes. "Got a problem with that?"

"No," the boy said defensively. "If you'd rather be brawny than brainy..."

Sirius reached across the compartment to grab one of James' Chocolate Frogs, and retorted, "Where're you hoping to go, seeing as you're neither?"

James and Peter broke out in laughter (Remus seemed to not want to get into the fight and just sat by awkwardly, eyeing the Chocolate Frogs). The girl stood up, glaring at Sirius. "Come on, Severus, let's find another compartment." She grabbed him by the hand (Sirius smirked and said, "Oooo…"), and led him out of the compartment.

James had a sudden burst of inspiration. "See ya, Snivellus!"

Peter and Sirius roared with laughter. Remus took his eyes off the Chocolate Frogs, and looked at them disapprovingly.

Sirius glanced at Remus's objecting face. "Here, have a Chocolate Frog." He handed him one of James', and Remus stuffed the Frog in his mouth at once, giving the silver-lined card to Sirius.

"Oi! That's mine!" James took a Frog out of Peter's pile, who was chewing happily on a Fizzing Whizbee, so he took no notice. "And gimme that card!"

"But - but it's Alberic Grunnion!" complained Sirius, slightly whining.

James snatched it back. "Mine."

Sirius glared, but cheered up when Peter handed him a box of Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans. "Oh! Blimey!" He opened up the box greedily. "Thanks, Peter!" He put a handful in his mouth, and it took him not much more than a moment to look absolutely disgusted. He spit them all out on Remus, swearing.

Remus glared daggers, and brushed himself off. "I'm not your trash can!"

"Really?" said James mockingly. "Because you look like it."

He knew that he had gone over the line when Remus's eyes turned from angry to sad. He traced his scars with the tip of his fingertips, looking down at his lap.

"Oh - Remus - I'm sorry," sputtered James, feeling very guilty. "I didn't mean your - I was just joking - I - I'm sorry."

"It's all right," said Remus with an odd, twisted smile. "I'm used to it."

"No - I didn't mean it! I didn't!" objected James. "I was joking, I didn't think -".

"It's all right," Remus repeated. "But -" His eyes strayed to the pile of Chocolate Frogs on James's lap.

James pushed them all over to Remus. "Here, now stop making me feel guilty." He grinned hesitantly.

Remus greedily opened one and tossed the card to James (It was Agrippa). "Fanks," he said, with a mouthful of chocolate.

The rest of the train ride they spent eating through Peter's pile of candy, (for Remus, James' Chocolate Frogs), and getting to know one another. Sirius wouldn't talk about his family much, but from what the others had gathered, he'd had a pretty miserable time there. He did, however, tell in detail about all of the girls that had supposedly asked him out. "There was Jennifer, Kimberly, Laura…". He scratched his chin. "Adrianne, yeah, she had nice hair, blonde streaks…. And Mindy. She was ugly… There was two more, I know. Yvonne, and - oh, Shawna! She could've been a supermodel. But I turned all of them down," he bragged proudly, speaking as though it was normal for an eleven-year-old to get asked out, and not turn them down.

Remus said that he had been in the way of a cutting curse, and that was where he had gotten his scars. When asked why there had been a cutting curse, he mumbled some stuff about kitchen knives not being sharp enough, and abruptly changed the subject. He told that his family was nice, but his parents had to work a lot, and he was left alone for most of his day. He didn't mind, though, he said. He liked to read, and being alone give him time to devour books after books without any noise ("Who would _want_ reading in general?" said James, disbelieving).

Peter didn't say that much, he would've much rather listened to the others' stories. When he was forced to talk by a very curious Sirius who was beginning to wonder if he was brought up by a murderer or something like that, he stated that his parents were wonderful and loved him a lot. He also mumbled something about really liking cheese, while devouring around ten ChocoBalls at once.

James went on and on about how they had this smashing old mansion, and his parents got him everything in the world. "One day they came home, and they had gotten me this new broomstick that had just came out a day ago then - the Nimbus 501. It's awesome, it has a real good tail end…". He also talked for thirty-one minutes and twenty-two seconds straight (Remus ended up timing it with a stopwatch) about Quidditch, and how superb a chaser he was, and how he was sure Peter would be a Beater. "He has the right build for it," he stated passionately, "and if he worked out a bit he would be super strong, lots of muscle.."

Peter took this as a compliment, and started flexing his arms proudly.

Soon the train was starting to show signs of slowing down. The yellow countryside grass didn't whiz by as fast, and there wasn't as much noise from the wheels. They had eaten all of Peter's candy, and Remus had consumed all of the Chocolate Frogs.

"We really should get into our robes," said Remus quietly. He had never spoken loudly to them, or even spoke in much more than a whisper for that matter. But somehow, he was heard over the loud groaning of James and Sirius, who had eaten way too much candy (Peter had eaten just as much, if not more than them, but miraculously he was completely fine, and wanted dinner).

"I don't _want_ to," whined Sirius, clutching his stomach.

"I don't _need_ to," whined James, looking a little green in the face.

"Neither do I," said Peter, bouncing a little on his seat.

Remus was in the middle of opening his mouth, but before he could say anything, a clear voice echoed through the train. "Good evening, Students of Hogwarts. We will be arriving in five minutes, so make sure you are completely ready. Leave your luggage on the train; we will attend to it." There was a slight buzzing sound as the voice disconnected.

James and Sirius groaned again, and grudgingly started changing into their Hogwarts robes. Peter followed their lead, and Remus, who, to his credit, didn't even make an "I-told-you-so" face, started changing too.

Once they were all changed and had cleaned their faces as well as they could, the train was coming to a stop, and hundreds of witches and wizards were jumbled up in the corridor, in what was supposed to be a sort of line. They all filed up outside their compartment, ending up squished against a few second-year girls. James was very excited, stomachache gone by now. It was all he could do to not bounce up and down screaming.

He still did it, earning some questioning looks from nearby people.

In a few minutes' time, the line started moving. James made to follow the rest of the students once they had stepped off the train into the night, but stopped when a hand tugged him back. "Someone said that first years were over there." He whirled around to see Sirius, who was pointing over to the right. He had stayed behind while Remus and Peter ran ahead. "Come on!" he said urgently, beckoning James.

James didn't waste a second and tore off through the incoming crowd of students, following Sirius. "Firs' years!" rang a voice. "Firs' years over here!"

They had run for maybe five seconds when they bumped into a wall, and promptly fell backwards.

Looking up, James realized the wall they had run into wasn't a wall, but a man with a lantern. A very big man, he registered, as he got to his feet. James was probably to his waist at most.

"What yeh doin' runnin' in ter people?" said the giant man, looking down at them.

"Er-". James exchanged a look with Sirius. He hadn't been warned about a giant either, James saw, from the slightly frightened expression on his face.

The giant (or man, or whatever he was) laughed heartily, his crinkly eyes warm. "I'm jus' messing aroun'!"

James let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding, and smiled hesitantly at the giant. "I'm James, this is Richard-"

"Don't believe a word he says, I'm Sirius," Sirius interjected, his fear quite forgotten as he elbowed James playfully. "And you are?"

"Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of the Grounds," the giant said, a wide smile spread across his face as he ruffled their hair, effectively shaking their whole bodies. He seemed amused at their antics. "Jus' call me Hagrid, everyone does -"

He broke off mid-sentence. "Oh, darn, I forgot!" He scanned the crowd of eleven-year-olds below him. "Is all the firs' years here?"

A murmur of assent rung through the horde.

"Good tha'," Hagrid said, continuing, "Now follow me -," and he held his lantern high and led them down a dark, narrow, rocky path. James and Sirius moved to find Remus and Peter, and together they tripped and stumbled (all except Sirius, who seemed to either have extensive ballroom dancing lessons or he was just born with grace. All of them thought that unfair if that was the case) along the path for what seemed like forever, but Remus, who had brought his stopwatch for some reason, said at the end that it was five minutes and eleven seconds.

"You'll get your first glimpse of Hogwarts in a sec," called Hagrid over his shoulder, seemingly not noticing all the stumbling people. "Jus' over here!"

There was suddenly a big "Ooooh!" as they rounded a bend, and the path opened onto the edge of a grand, massive lake. There were dozens of little wooden boats floating by the shore, and on top of a mountain on the other side of the lake was Hogwarts, a towering castle with many sparkling windows.

"Don't be shy, get in," shouted Hagrid, pointing at the vessels. "No more'n four to a boat!"

There was a great rustling as everyone clambered onto one of their choice, hoping that there were enough. James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter immediately got into one of the boats, with the help of James and Sirius pushing everyone else away, and Remus trying to make a disapproving face, but failing. Hagrid had a boat to himself, and still hardly fit, his legs sticking out, which gave everyone great amusement.

"Everyone in?" yelled Hagrid, ignoring the snickers. He looked behind him, making sure there was nobody left on the rickety path. "Good - FORWARD!"

And the boats moved all at once, sailing across the lake to the castle. The sparkling lights came nearer and nearer, and the dark, rocky path drifted farther and farther away.

"Keep your heads down!" yelled Hagrid warningly, lowering his lantern as the boats reached a rocky cliff opening, where ivy hung in strands of bright green. They glided along a dark tunnel, and their voices echoed off of the walls. James felt a lurch of excitement as the boats slowed down, finally coming to a stop as they reached some kind of underground harbor.

Everyone clambered out onto rocks and pebbles except for Sirius, who took great care to climb out as gracefully as he could, to the other three's general annoyance and jealousy (especially Peter, who had fallen flat on his face).

Hagrid wiggled out of his own boat after a lot of struggling, which made everyone laugh again, and then, pretending that he hadn't heard them, he checked the other boats with his golden lantern held high. Once he had made sure that everyone had their possessions, he led them up a rock passageway, finally coming out onto damp, fresh grass in the shadow of the castle.

Nobody had time to stretch out on the dew, however, as right when they stepped foot on the grass, Hagrid started striding to a stairway. Exhausted from all the walking, everyone groaned as they grudgingly followed Hagrid and his lantern up a flight of cracked stone stairs, leaning on the rails for support. James was wondering if it wouldn't be better to just let them fly there on broomsticks, when they (finally) stopped walking, and all crowded around a great wooden door.

"Everyone here?" Hagrid scanned the sea of heads. "Nobody crack their skull on a rock?"

Hagrid raised a fist (James thought privately that it was bigger than his trunk), and knocked four times on the door.

Everyone waited, eyes locked on the door, for one frightening moment. James was sure that everyone was thinking the same thing - what if nobody answered, and they stood there waiting for hours, until Hagrid said that there had been a mistake and they would have to try again next year?

Before everyone could worry about that for more than a moment, though, the door swung open.


	2. Chapter Two: The Sorting Hat Has Flows

There stood a tall, black-haired woman, dressed in fiery Gryffindor red robes. She had a stern face, bearing down at them all. There was a lot of nervous shuffling of feet as they took in the full presence of her.

"Here's the firs' years, Professor McGonagall," Hagrid said, looking down.

 _So this is "old Minnie"_ , thought James. She seemed harder to get past than he was expecting.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them now," she answered, her voice as strict as she looked.

Hagrid nodded in return, and turned to go back, while whispers broke out among all of them. A particularly petrified looking boy loudly whispered to his friend, "Where is she going to take us - to a hot oven?"

Professor McGonagall's already thin lips compressed into an even thinner line, but other than that, she ignored him, and beckoned them along through the huge door.

The entrance hall was gargantuan, with an amazingly high ceiling, in which a sparkling chandelier hung from, and walls so far apart that they could barely see the other end of the room (if you could call it that).

"Don't dawdle," said 'Old Minnie' impatiently. They were all standing around, heads rotating as they tried to catch a glimpse of everything, but at her words, they all jumped and continued walking.

The sound of hundreds of voices talking at once came from a doorway to the right - the rest of the school must be there - but Professor McGonagall led them on forwards, until showing them into a small room off the end of the hall. They all crowded in, pressing each other to try and get more room for themselves, most feeling distinctly uncomfortable, as they were all rather closer to each other than they wanted to be.

The Professor cleared her throat, and they all jumped again, some knocking heads with others, but the low murmuring that had been going on stopped immediately.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," she said. "The start-of-term feast will begin soon, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. Do not take this lightly, as the Sorting is an extremely important ceremony. While you are here, your housemates will become something like your family. You will have classes with your housemates of the same age, sleep in your house dormitory, and reside in your house common room during free time.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor," (James pumped a fist into the air) "Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin." (Many of the students including James and Peter groaned, and a few cheered.) "Each house has its own noble." James and Sirius stopped listening at that, as did a few others. They knew this all by heart, having been told repeatedly (Sirius in a more prejudiced way).

Sirius leaned against a wall and dozed off slightly, listening to the voices emitting from the other room. McGonagall's voice went on in the background.

James got more and more bored as the stern-faced woman droned on and on for what seemed like forever, but was probably little more than thirty seconds. As she was talking about "outstanding" wizards produced from Hufflepuff, James prodded the redhead from the train.

She whirled around at once. "What?" she hissed.

"Er…" James hadn't thought about what he would say. "I'm bored," he finished lamely.

She narrowed her eyes to the point where only a sliver of her emerald green irises could be seen, but only huffed and turned back around to face Professor McGonagall, who was saying:

"...Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes, where you will be up in front of the school. Therefore, try not to look too scruffy." She directed the last bit at Peter, who still had a chocolate smear across his chin. He gulped, and hurriedly wiped it off with his robe sleeve.

"I shall return when it is time," she said, concluding the mini speech. "Please do wait quietly." She swept out of the room, closing the door behind her.

A low murmuring sound echoed through the room as the soon-to-be students started nervously chatting. The redhead from the train was wondering aloud if you could bring a pencil to Hogwarts, complaining to 'Snivellus' about quills being hard to use. A group of boys were talking about the possibility of being sorted into blood status, and many other people were muttering about the Sorting.

"How exactly do they sort us?" whispered a blonde-haired girl, looking fearful.

"I'm pretty sure they test us on how many pushups we can do," said a muscled boy, slightly flexing his arms. "I can do seventy four," he added proudly.

"I'm pretty sure they tickle us with a feather," said another girl.

"I - I heard they use a c-club and hit us with it, and th-th-they check how m-much pain we s-seem to be in," Peter stuttered out, looking just as frightened as the blonde girl.

Sirius, who had just been shaken out of his sleep-like state by James, laughed. "We're sorted by a bloody hat, Peter."

"And it sings," added James, snickering.

At those words, a lot of people let out a big breath, and Peter visibly relaxed. The muscled boy, however, looked crestfallen. He seemed to have been looking forward to showing off.

But before he could be disappointed for more than a moment, Professor McGonagall swept in again, her long robes billowing out behind her.

"We are ready for you," she said. "Now, form a line and follow me."

They all did so, some energetically, and some with shaking legs and pale faces at the prospect of being sorted. Remus' face was exceptionally pale, and his whole body was shaking. He took his place at the very back of the line, while James rushed to the front, shoving people away in his efforts.

Peter briefly wondered if Remus was scared of hats, but dismissed this thought as they started moving out of the small chamber.

Professor McGonagall briskly led them back across the hall and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.

It was even bigger than the entrance hall, stretching far and wide. A soft golden glow lit it, caused by thousands of tiny candles that were floating over four long tables, where the other students were already sitting, chattering away. Dotted randomly throughout the Great Hall, silvery ghosts sat between some students, and when one unlucky student would accidentally touch them, they jerked away like they were on fire.

If you looked up, you could see, instead of a ceiling, the night sky, with thousands of stars and constellations decorating it. James' mum, Euphemia, had told him that it was bewitched to look like the sky, but it was hard to believe that there was a ceiling at all.

Different tablecloths laid over each of the tables, one each for Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. At the end of the hall was another table, slightly smaller than the others, where the teachers were sitting. Professor McGonagall led them to there, so that they ended up in a line facing the other students.

She placed a small brown stool in front of the first years, and on top of that, a frayed, patched, dirty pointed hat. It was the kind of hat Sirius would've put in his little brother, Regulus', bed, to prank him.

A hush had fallen over the hall once the hat had been placed, and a thousand pairs of eyes were now staring at it.

For a few seconds, there was complete silence. You could've heard a pin drop. And then the hat twitched, and a rip near the bottom opened wide - and the hat began to sing:

 _I know I may look ugly,_

 _And yes, I might look mad,_

 _But I can Sort, and I'm quite smart,_

 _Unlike those other Hats._

 _I can also tell good stories,_

 _And I bet that other Hats,_

 _Wouldn't be able to dream of doing_

 _What I did in the past._

 _So keep your eyes and ears on me_

 _And because I can_

 _I'll tell you a tale_

 _Of how Hogwarts began._

 _You should know that I wasn't always_

 _Alive, smart, and all that,_

 _While Hogwarts was being made,_

 _I was just a young hat._

 _I belonged to Gryffindor,_

 _And partly to his friends:_

 _Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff,_

 _And also Slytherin._

 _Now, they were clever, I can tell you,_

 _And they hatched a plan:_

 _To educate young sorcerers,_

 _So Hogwarts School began._

 _But there was an argument;_

 _Because they were different each,_

 _They wanted to accept_

 _Very different ones to teach._

 _But they solved their problem_

 _By agreeing this:_

 _They agreed that they would Sort the students_

 _Into their own Houses._

 _So maybe you're in Gryffindor,_

 _Where bravery is just,_

 _Or maybe you're in Slytherin,_

 _Among ambitiousness._

 _Maybe you're in Ravenclaw,_

 _Where they prize intelligence,_

 _Or maybe you're in Hufflepuff,_

 _If you're diligent._

 _Gryffindor, before he died,_

 _Improved me so I could_

 _Sort the students to the Houses_

 _And I could do some good._

 _So put me on, don't be afraid,_

 _Just remember this task:_

 _If you want a specific House,_

 _Well, you need only ask._

The Hall erupted into a standing ovation as the Hat finished its song. It beamed, bowed low four times, and then became still again.

James was laughing the whole way through, and couldn't stop, even when Professor McGonagall glared at him. "Good one, am I right?" he chortled to Sirius. "The hat's got some flows."

Sirius absentmindedly nodded, but he wasn't thinking about that. He was replaying the last line in his head over and over again. _If you want a specific House, you need only ask_ … He wondered which house he _did_ want to be in.

Peter had gone pale at the fact that he would have to be Sorted in front of the whole school. He nervously looked at the fraying hat, wishing there was a such thing as private sorting.

Remus looked more pale than ever. Being at Hogwarts had stimulated his nerves, and he was shaking like a leaf in the wind.

Professor McGonagall stepped forward again. In her hand was a long roll of parchment, which she was unraveling. "When I call your name, you will sit on the stool and put on the hat," she said. She peered at the first name.

"Aubrey, Bertram!"

A chubby boy strode out of line and put on the hat. There was a moment's pause -

"RAVENCLAW!" the hat shouted. The table second from the left started cheering as he jogged over.

"Avery, Solimon!"

A shaking boy stumbled to the stool nervously, and put on the hat, which immediately covered his entire face.

"SLYTHERIN!" screamed the hat. The table closest to the doors erupted in applause.

"Black, Sirius!"

Sirius' eyes widened, and he swore under his breath, cursing the fact that his last name had to start with the letter 'B'. He wasn't ready! He hadn't decided if he wanted to be in Slytherin..

Nevertheless, with the least amount of fear he could manage, he walked out of line, sat on the stool, and put on the hat. It fell over his eyes, and suddenly he could see only darkness.

'Another Black?' said a small voice in his ear. 'I seem to remember most of your family being very rude to me..'

Sirius gulped, and gripped the edge of the stool. _I'm not like them_ , he thought as fiercely as he could. Then he wondered if he was being rude too, and quickly thought, _Well, at least, I don't think so.._

'Hmm, very interesting,' said the voice. 'You seem to be telling the truth.. so where should I put you? You have courage, oh, my goodness. You have talent, yes, and, a thirst to prove yourself. Those are very good qualities of Slytherin..'

Sirius' heart dropped, even though he didn't really know why. He still hadn't decided how he felt about being in Slytherin; on the train ride, he was just humoring James, but still.. _Not Slytherin,_ he found himself thinking.

'Well, I never said that I wanted to put you there,' said the voice smugly. 'If you so want to be different, I will send you along to

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The hat shouted the last part, and Sirius, grinning broadly, set it on the stool. The Slytherins were gaping, looking very much like wide-mouthed fish. Narcissa Black had dropped her wand on a younger student's head, looking, horrified, at her cousin. He ignored her, though, and made his way to the Gryffindor table, where, after getting over a moment of shock, they were cheering.

Still, when he sat down next to a second-year girl, she gave him an uncomfortable glance, and scooted as far away from him as she could.

After a few more names, Professor McGonagall called, "Evans, Lily!"

The redhead from the train walked nervously to the stool, and put the hat over her head. After a couple moments, the hat yelled, "GRYFFINDOR!" and Lily, blushing, took off the hat. She ran to the Gryffindor table, and took a seat between Sirius and the second-year girl, not paying attention. But once she took a look at him, she scowled and turned her back.

After several other names, "Longbottom, Frank!" was called, and the muscled boy eagerly jammed the hat on his head -

"GRYFFINDOR!"

He pumped his fist in the air, set the hat down, and strode to the Gryffindor table.

"Lupin, Remus!"

Remus jumped as his name was called. _Oh no_ , he thought. This was when the staff was going to change their minds and send him back. Oh no.

He stumbled out of line, and made to sit on the stool. He missed the seat by several inches, though, and therefore fell on his rear, causing gales of laughter to erupt.

Flushing slightly, he pushed himself up, _actually_ sat on the stool, and pulled the hat over his head.

'Hmm,' said a voice. 'Very interesting…'

 _Oh no,_ thought Remus sadly. _This is where they send me back._

The hat made a chortling noise. From what Remus could decipher, it was laughter. 'Oh, no, they would never send you back. I've just never seen the likes of you - such an innocent minded w-'

 _NO!_ The thought burst out of Remus before he could stop it. _I - I'm sorry, just don't say it, please._

The chortling noise echoed through Remus' ears again. 'Don't hide from yourself, embrace what you are. Hmm….. this is difficult.' Its thoughts went back to sorting. 'Loyal, kind… but brave, very brave. You have raw talent, whatever else you might think… so where should I put you?'

 _I don't care, really. I won't have friends no matter where you put me._ His mind strayed to James, Sirius, and Peter. They had been so nice, but he couldn't endanger them.

'Hmm… you're missing the confidence in yourself,' said the hat, not unkindly. 'Not Ravenclaw, eh? Let's say

"GRYFFINDOR!"

He _had_ been chosen. He shakily set the hat down, and walked over to the Gryffindor table.

He was about to sit down in an isolated corner, when - "REMUS!" He spun around immediately. "OVER HERE!"

It was Sirius.

Remus couldn't help but let a smile break out across his face. He could at least have friends for one night, he reasoned, and he went and plopped down next to the raven-haired boy.

Next, "MacDonald, Mary" became a Gryffindor, after sitting with the hat over her eyes for almost five minutes (One of the first years still standing in line laid down on the floor and went to sleep after a couple of boring minutes).

"Meadows, Dorcas" became a Hufflepuff, and "McKinnon, Marlene" joined Lily at the Gryffindor table.

"Nott, Timothy" went to Slytherin, looking pleased with himself, and then -

"Pettigrew, Peter!"

Peter nervously stepped forward, and dropped the hat over his eyes. He waited, wondering what the hat was going to do.

'Hmm,' said a voice, echoing through his ears. 'Difficult. Humble minded, I see. That's a good thing. Loyal, very loyal. Easily befriended, and down-to earth. Interesting.. You are very difficult. Where should I put you?'

 _Er-_ Peter wasn't sure if he was supposed to talk to the hat. Nobody else seemed to have moved their mouth.

'I can read your mind, you know,' said the voice.

 _Oh - well, in that case, could I be in Gryffindor? My friends from the train are there - well, two of them are, and James is going to be too, I think._ He felt a little silly thinking to a hat, but it worked, and he would feel slightly more silly talking out loud to a hat.

'Are you sure? You know, you could easily be Hufflepuff..'

 _Please?_

'If you insist,' said the hat. 'Friends come and go, but house pride always stays, you know..'

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Peter grinned, and took the hat off. He ran over, sitting down on Sirius' other side, as Alice Prewett, a short blonde girl, was called up.

After Alice was declared a Gryffindor, there was only six first years left waiting in line.

"Potter, James!"

 _Finally!_ thought James. He had been waiting, bored out of his mind, while everyone else got Sorted. Now it was his turn.

He practically ran up to the stool, and jammed the hat onto his head -

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The room started applauding, and James bowed, taking the hat off. He ran over to the Gryffindor table, sliding in next to Remus.

"Blimey, that didn't take long," said Sirius, looking over at James. "The hat took like a minute to decide with me."

The latter shrugged. "I'm just a perfect fit for Gryffindor, I guess."

And now there were only six. people left to be sorted. "Rosier, Evan" was quickly sorted into Ravenclaw. The greasy-haired boy from the train ("Snape, Severus") was made a Slytherin within seconds. "Talkalot, Lucinda" joined him after a minute, and "Vanity, Emma" was made a Slytherin too. "Wallis, Cynthia" slid in across from James at the Gryffindor table, and lastly, "Wilkes, Anne" was made a Hufflepuff. After that, Professor McGonagall rolled up her parchment and took the Sorting Hat away.

James took this moment to look at the staff members. They were all seated behind the High Table. At the end closest to James was Hagrid, seated in an enormous chair. The height difference between him and the rest of the staff was significant; Hagrid dwarfed them. And on the other end, looking over the Slytherins, was a chubby man. Resting over his upper lip was a very grand mustache, effortlessly making him look a bit like a walrus. James snickered at that, and turned his attention to the man seated in the very middle. He had a long, silvery beard, and just as long, silvery hair. His ocean eyes were twinkling, looking like two very bright stars in the sky. Everyone who looked at him recognized him immediately: He was Albus Dumbledore, the very wise - and sometimes eccentric - Headmaster of Hogwarts. James thought he was pretty cool.

Apparently most people did, because a hush fell over the Hall as Dumbledore got to his feet. He was very tall, James noticed, and had very long arms, which were currently spread out wide in a grand gesture.

"Welcome!" he said, beaming at them all. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! I am sure that everyone here is very hungry, but before we begin our start-of-year feast, I would like to say a few words, if you do not mind: And here they are. Thank you!"

Everyone cheered, as he sat back down, straightening his spectacles. James and Sirius cracked up, while clapping as hard as they possibly could. It was a hard task, but they proved fit.

Once they had calmed down, they noticed that food had suddenly appeared in front of them, piled up on the center bowls and plates in large amounts. They looked around, and saw about a hundred different foods to eat. It all looked delicious, except, for some strange reason, one of those plates was piled up with chocolate-covered crickets.

James saw an overflowing bowl of meatballs, and immediately helped himself, taking half of it for himself. He also took some fries, and some sausage.. In no time at all, his plate was overflowing.

So was Peter's. He had taken a bit of everything (even the chocolate crickets), and it was all piled up on his plate like a mountain.

Remus had licked the chocolate off of a handful of crickets, which were now lying in a pile on his napkin. He'd also taken some fries and steak, which he was currently devouring.

Sirius had squeezed out a whole ketchup bottle onto his plate, and was dipping bacon into the pool of ketchup, earning some weird looks.

"Shee, Peder," said James through a mouthful of potato, looking as smug as anyone possibly could while spitting their chewed up food onto others. "Da hat shings."

"I never said it didn't," Peter objected.

"Yeah, well, you probably thought it."

Sirius chuckled, saying sarcastically, "I'm sure he _never_ doubted you, James."

Before James could retort, however, there was a loud "Argh!". Everyone who heard it whipped their heads towards the sound to see Sirius on the floor, rubbing his head.

"Are you okay, mate?" asked James, his fork frozen halfway on the journey to his mouth.

The sleek-haired boy picked himself up off the ground, face flushed. "Yeah - I was trying to lean back on my seat, and I kind of forgot that there wasn't a back."

All concern forgotten, James doubled up laughing, and Peter soon followed. Even Remus gave a little titter at the thought.

Sirius glared at them all, wincing. "It hurt!"

"Yeah," James chortled, "that's why it's funny." He then dissolved into another fit of laughter.

Sirius groaned, and ate another forkful of food. While he waited for them to regain composure, he listened in on Lily Evans' conversation with two other first-year girls - he thought they were "MacDonald, Mary" and "McKinnon, Marlene".

"...can't wait to take Potions," Lily was saying. "What about you?"

Mary giggled, pushing a strand of her black hair out of her eyes. "I like Potions too, I think that would be fun."

"Potions seems like a waste of time," said Marlene. "You're basically cooking, and can't you do that at home?"

Mary considered this. "I guess."

"It seems fun to me," said Lily cooly.

Sirius wrinkled his nose in distaste. He couldn't understand why they were talking about classes before they had to. In his mind, a perfect world included Hogwarts without any classes besides Transfiguration (he would've liked to learn how to transfigure everything into food, money, or Dungbombs) and flying lessons.

He felt a slight tap on his shoulder, and jumped. He turned slightly to see the thin and scarred face of Remus Lupin.

"Merlin, why did you have to sneak up on me?"

"Sorry," Remus muttered, looking down.

"No - it's okay - just -".

"It's just that James wanted me to tell you they're done laughing, so you can stop checking out those girls," he said. When he saw Sirius' offended face, he hurriedly added, "James' words, not mine."

Sirius turned to James, who was currently slurping down five meatballs at a time, and punched him in the shoulder.

James spit a soggy meatball out. "Ow! Why'd you do that?"

Sirius crossed his arms. "First of all, I was _not_ checking out those girls, and second of all, why did you send Remus to do your dirty work when you were sitting right here?"

James ate the meatball that he had spit out, and answered, "First of all, you were, and second of all, Remus was closer."

Sirius leaned back on Remus. "Sorry to break it to you, mate, but you're lazy and delusional."

James opened his mouth to retort, but whatever he said was lost by the loud crash.

Sirius had put all his weight on Remus, and the skinnier boy wasn't able to withstand the pressure, therefore they both tumbled off the bench.

"Oops - sorry, mate!" Sirius helped Remus up with one hand, rubbing his head with the other. "You okay?"

Remus winced, sitting down again. "Yeah - just fine."

"Next time I'll try to land on James," Sirius quipped, playfully glaring at the messy-haired boy, who immediately stopped laughing (while Peter laughed even more).

"HEY!"

They continued bickering as they shoveled food down (it was a huge achievement that they could even talk at all through their huge mouthfuls), and once everyone had eaten as much as they could, the remains of the food vanished from the plates, and dessert appeared on the center dishes. A collective gasp echoed through the hall as the first years looked upon it in awe (as the older students immediately dug in, being used to it). There was deliciously gooey pies in every flavor you could think of, heaping bowls of ice cream, cream puffs, Jell-O, Peppermint Toads, chocolate pudding...

After the grandness of it all wore off a bit, everyone except for "Longbottom, Frank" immediately started piling dessert on their plates. Frank didn't move a muscle, only watching everyone else wolf down their sweets.

Sirius looked at Frank in confusion. "Oi, are you not hungry?"

"I had a lot to eat," he said.

"Yeah - well, didn't we all?"

"Let me rephrase - I had a lot of _healthy_ food to eat," he said, wrinkling his nose at Peter, who was practically shoving cream puffs down his throat.

Sirius opened his mouth, then closed it, perplexed. James put down his half-finished eclair at those words, and stared at the brown-haired boy. "Wait - you don't like this stuff?"

Frank laughed. "Mates, if you don't fancy suffocating in your own fat, don't eat sugar."

Sirius let in a sharp intake of breath. "Are you saying we're fat?" He started frantically squeezing his skin, trying to find fat, causing some people to stare.

James gasped. "How much fat should I lose?" He started feeling around too.

"Am I fat too?" asked Peter, wiping chocolate off of his upper lip and quickly following James and Sirius' lead.

"Relax," said Frank, chuckling, "you're not fat - yet."

James and Sirius gave a sigh of relief, and stopped frantically pinching every inch of their bodies.

"Except for you," added Frank bluntly, pointing at Peter. "You might want to lose about a fourth of your weight."

"Oh," said Peter. He looked sideways at James and Sirius' outraged faces, and immediately added, "Hey!"

James glared at Frank. He quickly stuffed the rest of the eclair in his mouth, and after he swallowed the creamy goodness as fast as he could, he spoke. "Blimey, you can't just tell someone they're fat!"

"Yeah, how would you feel if I called _you_ fat?" said Sirius, crossing his arms.

Frank crossed his arms too, and replied calmly, "I'd think that you were delusional, because I'm actually extremely in shape."

Sirius narrowed his eyes. "Prove it."

"Fine!" Frank pushed all the plates near him out of his way, and climbed up onto the table. He kneeled, proudly stating, "I can do 74 push ups."

Before anyone had the chance to tell him to get off of the table, he laid down, putting his feet in the chocolate ice cream, and started, counting loudly.

"One… two..".

A lot of people had now stopped eating their food for one of two reasons - either because Frank was distracting, or to eye the ruined ice cream sadly. Remus was one of the only ones who kept eating, focused on his chocolate. Peter was one of the others, surprisingly. He was wolfing down his fifth or sixth peppermint toad.

"Twenty three… twenty four…".

James and Sirius exchanged looks as Frank effortlessly did his thirtieth, still not noticing that his feet were in an ice cream bowl.

"Thirty six, thirty seven, thirty eight -"

"Mister Longbottom, kindly get down from there right now!" Professor McGonagall had strode over from the High Table, and was now standing next to Frank's seat with her hands on her hips. (James and Sirius snickered when they heard his last name.)

Frank stopped mid push up, and reluctantly turned his head to look at the stern professor. "But-".

"Get down now!"

Frank sighed, and sat up. "Yes, Professor." He stepped down to face her.

She glared at him. "Would you like to inform me on what you were doing up there?"

"He was doing pushups," said Sirius, also glaring at Frank, "because he wanted to prove that he was in shape."

"Last time I checked, I was aware that I was asking this question to Longbottom, Mister Black," Professor McGonagall snapped. She looked expectantly at Frank, who seemed to shrink under her gaze.

"I _was_ doing pushups, but it was only to prove that I wasn't -"

McGonagall cut him off. "I don't need excuses, Mister Longbottom. You do _not_ go on the table, especially when there is food on there. Three points will be taken from Gryffindor." She briskly walked back to the High Table, leaving James and Sirius snickering.

Frank glared at them. "I _can_ do 74 pushups!"

They took no notice of him, and kept snickering until finally, the dessert faded away too, and Professor Dumbledore stood up. The chatter immediately died away, and a thousand pairs of eyes were fixated on the headmaster.

Dumbledore cleared his throat, and his twinkling eyes gazed upon the room. "Now that we are all fed and watered, I am sure that most of you would like nothing better than to jump in your beds for a long night's sleep, but before that, I would like to say a few words.

"First, new students should note that the forest on the grounds is expressly forbidden. Please do not attempt to break this rule, as the forest can be extremely dangerous.

"Second, Quidditch trials will be held this Friday for second year and above."

A collective groan was heard from many of the first years at those words.

"The times will be hung up in your respective dormitories, and anyone who wishes to try out must contact Madam Neese first. You may use their own broom, or, if you do not have one yet, borrow one of the school's.

"Third, a new tree has been planted in the grounds. It is called the Whomping Willow, and it is extremely dangerous. Please do not get close to it, as it will severely injure you."

Many of the students exchanged nervous looks at that, but Professor Dumbledore took no notice as he called happily,

"Now, before we leave, let us sing the school song!" Sirius could swear that he saw Professor McGonagall rolling her eyes at that.

Even if she did, Dumbledore ignored her, casually flicking his wand. A purple ribbon flew out of it, twisting itself elegantly into words.

"Everyone pick a tune," he said, "and off we go!"

Everyone sung along, some loudly - Sirius was probably the loudest of them all, singing along in a grand opera, while James was a close second with his rock star imitation - and others so quietly it looked like they were mouthing -Remus was one of those.

Once everyone had finished at different times, Sirius drawing out the last word for so long that he was panting once he finished, Dumbledore applauded, smiling.

"Ah, music," he said fondly. He straightened his spectacles on his crooked nose, and then added, "And now, bedtime! I am sure you must all be exhausted, so off you go!"

James, Sirius, Remus and Peter hadn't realized it until then, but they were extremely tired, so, with full stomachs and heavy eyes, they willingly followed the Gryffindor prefects out of the Great Hall, and up many flights of shining marble stairs.

Portraits of famous witches and wizards cluttered the walls, some snoring, some whispering to themselves, but many gave a cheery "Hello!" to the firsties.

A couple of times, the prefects led them through hidden doorways that looked like walls, and many times, they bumped into solid walls pretending to be doorways. A few bruises were forming on Remus' forehead from those, and Sirius' foot was getting to be quite sore from kicking the offending walls (some retaliated, feet popping out from nowhere and kicking him back).

About twenty staircases later, they found themselves in a corridor ending in a dead end, with only a picture of an extremely obese woman, who was currently smoothing out her pink silk dress.

As they neared her, she turned her head to look at them. "Password?"

"Sadalmelik," said the girl prefect easily, and the portrait swung open, revealing a large round hole in the wall.

They all scrambled through it, elbowing each other to give themselves more space to get through, and finally found themselves in a large, circular room with red wallpaper, and squashy armchairs. There was a fire blazing in the side of the room where the armchairs were, giving out a warm heat that made everyone even more tired.

The prefects directed girls through one door and boys to another. James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, and to James and Sirius' displeasure, Frank, were sent through the same door, and climbed a long spiral staircase.

At the top, they found their dormitory - a spacious, dimly lit room with five comfy four-poster beds hung with red velvet curtains. Their trunks had been brought to their respective beds, and Sirius' trunk was sat on the bed next to Frank's. The former groaned, and stretched out on his bed.

"James?"

"Yeah?" came a tired voice from across the room.

"Where are you?"

There was a yawning sound. "I'm between Remus and Peter, you dolt."

Sirius ignored the insult. "Can we switch?"

"No, why?"

Sirius groaned again, a wave of exhaustion coming over him.

"Never mind," he muttered, and promptly fell asleep without changing, or even moving his trunk off of his bed.

The others pulled on their pajamas, pushed their trunks off and followed Sirius' lead. Soon, the droning sound of snores filled the room.

 **A.N.**

 **I'm sorry that I haven't posted in so long, but to tell you the truth, I was just really lazy for the last month or so (:**

 **But to make up for it, here's a longer chapter. I hope you enjoyed! (By the way, I totally forgot to do an author's note in the first chapter, sorry!)**

 **Love you all!**

 **\- TigrezzWrites**


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